THE STRUGGLE FOR IRAQ: THE MILITARY; Air Raid Sends Iraqis Message, But What Is It?

After the start of a well-publicized offensive against Iraqi insurgents, American commanders said Thursday that they were intent on sending the rebels ''a message.''

But here at the site of one of the operation's primary targets, local Iraqis said they were uncertain what that message was supposed to be.

On the southern edge of the capital, a large building that American commanders said was a ''meeting, planning, storage and rendezvous point'' for the insurgents still stood, despite the military's claim that it had been destroyed in an airstrike the night before.

American soldiers came to the neighborhood several hours before the attack, local residents said, warning of the impending strike and making sure that everyone in the area was evacuated. Then an American AC-130 gunship strafed the building, knocking holes in the walls and wrecking much of the textile machinery arrayed inside.

The owner, Waad Dakhil Bolane, who said the Americans had warned his guards of the impending air raid, shook his head in befuddlement.

''Does this look like a military base to you?'' he asked, standing inside his factory, which was still filled with textile machinery. ''The Americans came here, told the guards to leave and then attacked. I don't understand.''

American commanders, who have been threatening for days to crack down on the Iraqi insurgents, said later that they were certain that the building had been used to fire mortars at American soldiers. One local Iraqi man seemed to confirm this. Told by a visitor that he intended to visit the factory, the man, Dervish Mohammad, waved his hand in warning. ''Look out,'' he said, ''there are bad people in there.''

But the commanders conceded that their primary aim had been to impress the guerrillas as much as to kill them.

''We were sending a message,'' an allied official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ''The message is, 'We're coming.' ''

In recent weeks military commanders have seemed to be judiciously choosing targets that provide relatively benign opportunities to remind Iraqis of the firepower they have at their disposal.

Last week, after the downing of American helicopters in Falluja and Tikrit, American F-16 fighter jets bombed rudimentary buildings that were suspected of harboring insurgents and matériel. Such planes had been used rarely, if at all, since May 1, when President Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.

Similarly, the AC-130 gunship, which was used Wednesday night, seemed to bring far more firepower than was needed to shoot up the textile factory. Even after the attack, the building still stood -- readily available, it seemed, to harbor the same enemy meetings and planning sessions that were suspected before.

For all the technologically advanced weaponry employed in recent days, it is not clear what effect it has had on tamping down the insurgency. Wednesday, the day the American offensive began, turned out to be one of the most intense yet for American soldiers, who were attacked 46 times by Iraqi guerrillas.

In the last seven days, an American military official said Thursday, the average number of attacks per day against American forces has risen to 37, a step up from previous weeks.

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American officials said they had killed or captured a number of Iraqi insurgents during the current offensive and had foiled a number of attacks. In the coming days, they said, the offensive would kick into a higher gear.

Indeed, by late Thursday, the sound of gun and artillery fire, evidently of American origin, began echoing through the Baghdad streets.

Late Thursday evening, American commanders said they had attacked one building and two suspected mortar sites.

The offensive, which was even given a fierce name, Operation Iron Hammer, was announced Wednesday in Washington shortly after it began. It seemed intended to lift the morale of American soldiers here, who have been the target of frequent hit-and-run attacks, which are difficult to repel.

The American officials said they had scored some notable successes on their first night. One came when they spotted a group of Iraqis firing mortars against American targets.

An Apache attack helicopter strafed the van that carried the group, killing two inside and severely wounding three. Five others were captured. American officials say they found an 82-millimeter mortar tube, three rifles and three cases of ammunition.

American officials said soldiers had also fired on a group of Iraqis who had been preparing to fire mortars at the headquarters of the American administration.

More such attacks, they said, are on the way.

''What you are seeing is offensive operations to go after our enemies in their lairs,'' an American official said Thursday in Baghdad. ''We expect that these kinds of operations will continue for as long as they are necessary.''

Remarks by military officials on Thursday echoed those made earlier this week by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who vowed to wage a more aggressive campaign against the insurgents and terrorists. General Sanchez and other American officials said they expected the number of attacks on American forces to rise in the near future as the American stepped up their operations.

By that calculus the American campaign may be a bloody one: in Tampa on Thursday, Gen. John Abizaid, head of the United States Central Command, estimated that the insurgents in Iraq numbered about 5,000.

General Abizaid and other have said the key to winning the war against the insurgents is having access to good information on their whereabouts. American commanders have acknowledged that they have been lacking in that area. But they insist that in regard to the textile factory, they were onto something.

So, apparently, did Mr. Muhammad, who warned of the ''bad people'' in the textile factory. Mr. Muhammad, moreover, did not count himself a strong friend of the Americans. He was in the spring, he said, just after the Americans had thrown out the government of Saddam Hussein. But since then, he said, too many things have gone wrong.

''In the beginning we were all happy,'' Mr. Muhammad said. ''But security is so bad now, we have all lost hope.''

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A version of this article appears in print on November 14, 2003, on Page A00001 of the National edition with the headline: THE STRUGGLE FOR IRAQ: THE MILITARY; Air Raid Sends Iraqis Message, But What Is It?. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe